Bacon can go with anything!

Posted on August 3, 2012 by David

We met some great friends in Cameroon, who now live in Canada.  Many times when we, the ex-patriots, would get together we would talk about foods we miss when living in Cameroon.  One of the foods that almost everyone misses is bacon.  During our time together, our friend Pete said that bacon goes with anything.  His wife would normally challenge his statement with asking if bacon would pair with fruit flavored Jello.  We have been back in the USA for a little more than a month and we recently went into Burger King.  We were surprised to see a table tent advertisement for a Bacon Sundae.  DeAnna thought that was a little too challenging on the pallet, but David saw it as an opportunity.  So Pete, David can confidently say bacon does go with ice cream, fudge & caramel in a bacon sundae.

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Ancient History

Posted on August 2, 2012 by David

We recently spent a week in Ohio and were able to take the boys to visit the National Museum of the United States Air Force. DeAnna and I had visited this museum about 10 years ago on one of our drives back and forth between Missouri and Pennsylvania. I was excited to take the boys because the museum had finished the cold war wing that was under construction last time we were there. The new wing had a B-2 bomber and I wanted to show the boys the air plane that daddy worked on when he was in the Air Force.

Now I know it has been awhile since I served but the plaque under the air plane said something close to “Based at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., the B-2 soon demonstrated its combat capabilities in Operation Allied Force over Serbia in 1999…” So my first thought was, I remember when that happened. Then my next thought was, am I getting old that something I was a part of is now in a National Museum?

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A Wise Choice

Posted on July 11, 2012 by David

The following testimony is from Faith Comes By Hearing. This organization works with Wycliffe to turn the written New Testament into audio form. We work with them in Cameroon and this testimony comes from a village near Yaoundé, the city we live in.

The following testimony is from an Audio Bible listener in Cameroon:

I host a listening group in my home, but was ill and suffered from painful eyes. One of my relatives who works in Yaoundé proposed to take me to a doctor there. I was happy that there was a possibility of solving my problem, but I was not ready to miss the listening. It was a dilemma to choose between going to Yaoundé for treatment and attending our group. After a few days of thinking and praying, I decided to stay in the village and continue the listening. During one session, I heard how Jesus healed a blind man and I prayed in my heart, asking him to heal me also. After this prayer, I started to get better and the pain decreased. A few days later, I was able to see clearly and the pain had disappeared. I trusted Jesus and He didn’t disappoint me.

“In that day the deaf will hear words read from a book, and the blind will see through the gloom and darkness.” Isaiah 29:18 NLT

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TWC

Posted on July 10, 2012 by David

Within our organization there are hundreds of acronyms, we work for WBT (Wycliffe Bible Translators) and are seconded to SIL at the CMB.  David used to work in CS as the manager, but now is the DAF.  So, why would I start a blog with all these acronyms you don’t know?  Well, we spent a week in Orlando (June 24-30) at TWC, as part of our SRP, to have a week long time to debrief our time in Cameroon and prepare for our time in the USA.  It was a wonderful week, full of helpful classes.  We were encouraged to be surrounded by others who have recently returned to the USA from all over the world and to hear each others stories, struggles and praises.  We had an evening as a group at Gatorland and the boys really enjoyed it, especially eating gator nuggets.  (and yes, tastes like chewy chicken)

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Joy

Posted on July 8, 2012 by David

I’ve (DeAnna) been trying to immerse myself in books, quotes and Scripture about joy!  So,  I’m starting to wonder, if you pray for joy do you get more opportunities to find joy in the not so joyful situations?  We all know, if you pray for patience, you get more opportunities to practice being patient.

I recently had a birthday, which was the last day of our trip to Orlando for our debrief time at the Wycliffe USA Headquarters.  Normally David and I are low key on our birthdays.  I usually make a special dinner and attempt shoo fly pie on his birthday.  I requested Pizza Hut for lunch before we went to the airport as my birthday present.  We had been seeing Pizza Hut signs, so I thought it was an easy request.  After driving around for a long time, we couldn’t find a Pizza Hut that had a dining area, only the to go Pizza Hut’s and I didn’t want to eat in the car.  We were running out of time and had to go on to the airport without Pizza Hut.  After we checked in at the airport, we had a long wait.  We found our departing gate and along the way, passed a place called Xpress Spa.  The store offered quick massage, manicures and pedicures.  David said he would like for me to be able to get a pedicure for my birthday.  (It’s been 3 years since I’ve had a pedicure and I only wore sandals for 2 years, so since the price was right, I decided to go for it.)  I went and asked about the pedicures.  I was told there was an opening in about an hour and to come back then.  I thought it would work out because that left me with an hour to receive the pedicure and she said it would only take 30 minutes.  When the hour arrived to return to the store, I did and was seated to wait.  As I waited, I saw the lady walk to the food court, stand in line for quite a while to get her venti Starbuck’s drink.  She returned, smiled and walked to the back of the store.  I looked at my watch and 20 minutes had went by and I knew if the pedicure didn’t start immediately it would be too late.  She came out from the back and I approached her asking when the pedicure would start and she said maybe in 15 minutes.  I explained I needed to board the plane and wouldn’t have time.  She offered a quick sorry and I left the store.

I was ready at that point to get back to Missouri and call it a day.

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Jonah’s Hand

Posted on July 6, 2012 by David

Yesterday, Jonah had his follow up visit with the hand surgeon.  I (DeAnna) was worried going into the appointment because his operation ended with a need to wait and see how everything heals and I was also concerned about the coloring of his ring finger.

When the cast and wrapping were removed, his fingers looked great compared to how they looked when we arrived in the USA.  His surgeon was pleased with how they looked and how the x-rays looked.  The pins in his finger were removed and now he sports a red waterproof cast!!!!  Wonderful answered prayers!!!!

Image

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Where is home?

Posted on June 25, 2012 by David

The first question Joshua was asked upon arriving to the USA by the US Customs official was, “Where is your home young man?” Joshua just kind of gave him a blank stare like, I really don’t know.

I quickly explained sensing the concern in the customs official’s face that is not really an easy question for him to answer. I explained that we have been living oversea for the last 3 years first in France and then in Cameroon and we lived in several houses before we left.

Sometimes it’s not easy to not have a place to call home, but we have been teaching our children that where our clothing is and where we are sleeping is where they can call home. We have a different rental house waiting for us when we return to Cameroon and the boys are looking forward to that home, since it comes with buddy the dog. We are very thankful for all our family members who have agreed to let us stay with them over the next few months and where our boys can call their house home.

But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control. (Philippians 3:20-21)

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Part II USA Jonah’s Hand

Posted on June 23, 2012 by David

Unlike his surgery in Cameroon, Jonah couldn’t eat anything on the 15th and had to stop having fluids a few hours before surgery.  Jonah loves to eat and is always hungry so it was so difficult for him to not have food.  He made us promise him that after surgery we would purchase him a happy meal.  We did promise him, however, we couldn’t make good on the promise until the 16th.

His surgery was scheduled for 3:15pm, however, due to the heavy load of little ones needing surgery  (83 surgeries) and the helicopter bringing in children continually, Jonah didn’t have his surgery start until 6:40pm.  Once the surgeon opened the ring finger, she discovered there was much more damage than she anticipated.  The top joint and bone didn’t have any soft tissue for connection to the middle bone.  She consulted us via phone from the operating room explaining the options of repair.  It’s so hard to make those kinds of decisions.  We put our trust in the surgeon and went with the option that she thought was best – bone fusion.  She needed to do a lot of cleaning of tissue in the finger and on the external part of the hand as well.  She needed to do much repair.  Currently the ring finger is pinned at the fusion and at the knuckle.  He has a full cast and praise the Lord that his pain has been manageable!

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Part I USA Jonah’s Hand

Posted on June 22, 2012 by David

We landed on Wednesday night, June 13th in Kansas City, MO.  Jonah had a scheduled appointment with a pediatric orthopedic hand surgeon on June 14th at a children’s hospital (Children’s Mercy).  The nurse who needed to remove the bandages could see how tense Jonah was getting about the bandage removal.  She commented that she’ll soak it in the pain free solution and he should know all about that.  We explained to her that in Cameroon they did the best they could with what they had available to them and they didn’t have the solution to soak the bandages.  She couldn’t believe it and couldn’t imagine the pain that he had gone through.  She promised him that if she caused him pain, he could kick her.  No kicking happened and it was a pain free removal.  They x-rayed his hand with a machine that can take 360 degree x-rays, unlike the flat over the top only x-ray that was available in Cameroon.  The side views of the x-rays showed the extent of the damage.  When the surgeon came in to show us the x-rays and talk about treatment, she explained that he needed surgery and she didn’t want to waste any time.  His surgery was scheduled for the very next day, June 15th.

We are so thankful that we have the opportunity to have him seen by surgeons and medical facilities that have the latest in technology.  Our hearts are heavy for those in Cameroon who can’t seek further medical treatment when things can’t be fully repaired.

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Jonah’s Bandage Changes

Posted on June 21, 2012 by David

The hand was wrapped in gauze squares and gauze wrap and the bandages needed to be changed every 3 days.  David with one of the nurses in our organization took Jonah to his first bandage change – it was extremely painful for Jonah.  The next bandage change David, DeAnna and one of the nurses took Jonah to the change and again, it was extremely painful.  He had one more bandage change on June 11th before we left Cameroon and again – painful!

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